As a proud former chess club and Lego League volunteer at my children’s non GT or AAP school, all I can say is wow. I never knew being in a school with my kids would be so detrimental to the GT kids.
Epstein protecting GT kids from having to be in class with “other” kids Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From an earlier thread, but relevant to the
> decision being made on Tuesday. Any thoughts?
>
>
>
http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/487
> 614/487614.html#msg-487614
>
> My response to GT issue, what's yours?
> Posted by: No she didn't ()
> Date: January 19, 2011 03:18PM
>
> This letter is from Louise Epstein, President of
> Fairfax County Association for the Gifted.
>
> Dear Members of the Hope Chinese School,
> This summer, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
> may decide to phase out GT Centers or otherwise
> restructure programs for gifted students. If you
> care about GT programs, please contact your School
> Board members before June 8th.
>
> The School Board has twelve voting members. Nine
> represent specific areas of Fairfax County. Three
> at-large members (Tina Hone, Jim Raney, and
> Ilryong Moon) represent all residents of Fairfax
> County. The contact information for all twelve
> School Board members is at
>
http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/members.htm.
> Last week, the School Board voted to provide full
> bus service to GT Center students for another
> year, until the School Board had a chance to
> discuss the future of GT programs. During that
> meeting, several School Board members said FCPS
> should discontinue GT Centers or that this was
> just a one-year extension of full GT Center bus
> service.
>
> This summer, the School Board will discuss GT
> programs during its June 8th work session and July
> 18th retreat. The basic question is whether gifted
> students should be grouped together for classes,
> or whether gifted students should be assigned to
> classes that also include below-average, average
> and/or above average students.
>
> While FCPS has budget problems, money is not a key
> factor in this debate. FCPS employees have
> admitted that GT Centers are free, except for the
> extra buses. Indeed, lower costs per GTC student
> may partly offset the extra busing costs. GT
> Center classes seem to be larger on average than
> non-GT Center classes, and GTC teachers receive
> little support from aides or resource teachers. In
> contrast, non-GTC teachers often receive
> significant help from aides, GT resource teachers,
> and other resource teachers.
>
> Thus, changes over the past decade in FCPS GT
> programs have been motivated largely by staff’s
> reservations about ability grouping, not by budget
> concerns. In the process, FCPS has restructured GT
> programs to gradually assign gifted students to
> more classes with a mix of gifted and other
> students, without explaining this clearly to
> parents.
>
> For example, FCPS created “Local Level 4”
> classes in dozens of elementary schools, and told
> parents that Local Level 4 classes were the same
> as GT Center classes. However, the reality is that
> many “Level 4” classes have only a handful to
> 20 students who were admitted to the GT Center
> program, many of whom would not have been admitted
> to the GT Centers a decade ago. Principals then
> decide how to fill up their Level 4 classes, and
> they can change their mind every year. In some
> schools, principals put a mix of below average,
> average and above average students in the Level 4
> classes.
>
> Similarly, FCPS has told parents that taking all
> honors classes in middle school is the same as
> taking GT Center classes, calling both “Level
> 4.” However, this year’s FCPS Advanced
> Academic Programs Advisory Committee report admits
> that they are different, because of the different
> ability levels of students in the GT Center versus
> honors classes. In addition, Thoreau and other
> middle schools are experimenting with putting all
> or most students in “honors” courses, for one
> or more subjects. Thus, if GT Centers are phased
> out, gifted students in middle schools that follow
> the “all honors” philosophy could be assigned
> to “honors” classes with below average
> students.
>
> Finally, spreading out gifted students among many
> schools often affects the availability of
> challenging academic programs. For example,
> without a large GT Center, it is often difficult
> to find enough students in a school who want to
> participate in chess clubs, math teams, Science
> Olympiad teams, and/or robotics teams. Without a
> critical mass of interested students, it is more
> difficult to persuade a school to sponsor these
> activities and/or to find enough students (and
> parent volunteers) to form these teams.
>
> If you have any questions, please feel free to
> contact me at
lepstein@cox.net.
>
> Sincerely,
> Louise Epstein
> President, Fairfax County Association for the
> Gifted
> www.fcag.org